From managed to citizen: the evolution during forty years

Abstract

The fortieth anniversary of the 1978 Constitution has led to the emergence of numerous tudies on its impact in many respects. The undoubted advances in the constitutional text on freedoms, fundamental rights and, in short, on the position of the individual in the system and in the face of power, is evident in the emphasis that the Constitution places on the figure of the “citizen” that thus stands in a central idea that seeks to connect with the notion of the rule of law, as was the case in its historical origin. With this enhancement, doctrine often preaches its strong contrast to the concept of “managed” so implanted before the Constitution. But this study comes to relativize the strength of this alleged opposition, underlining the success that the Constitution itself has inserted both concepts in its text.